Skopje, 17 May 2023 (MIA) - North Macedonia is internationally recognized as a successful model for functional multiethnic society and democracy. All international human rights reports confirm this fact. The accusations stated at this Summit by the representative of Bulgaria are totally ungrounded and are coming from a country that disrespects judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe’s standards in the area of human rights, PM Dimitar Kovachevski said Wednesday addressing the general debate “United for Europe” at 4th Summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik.

“The discourse widely used by Bulgaria towards North Macedonia is unfortunately very similar to the discourse of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine. It is unacceptable that false and ungrounded accusations are misused for political purposes at this crucial junction of the history of Europe,” Kovachevski said.

North Macedonia and Albania, as PM Kovachevski said, deserve to move forward and together because when your neighbours move forward, you too move forward.

“We should not allow any room for influence from third parties, especially from Russia, and in the heart of the Balkans, which is the heart of Europe,” Kovachevski added.

He underlined that North Macedonia fully endorses the Summit declaration and all annexes.

“We believe that they ensure a solid agenda for addressing, together with our partner organisations in particular the EU, the problems and concerns we share. As OSCE chair and as member of NATO, we shall continue to demonstrate our firm commitment to freedom, peace, prosperity and security in Europe, and our commitment to Ukraine in particular as we have done so far,” he added.

He said that they have gathered in Reykjavik to demonstrate unity, solidary and commitment to our shared values in the areas of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the face of the unprecedented aggression against our fellow member state Ukraine.

“The Russian aggression against Ukraine is the blatant violation of the international law and the rule based international order, which has shaken the existing multilateral structures. We still are convinced that multilateralism is the only way to mobilize collective response towards crisis, emergencies, and unparalleled challenges of various nature. Ukraine only wanted to choose its future path and allies. We did the same when we demonstrated our firm solidarity and promptly expelled the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe. We stood and are still united in requesting accountability for the crimes committed. We also started thinking about what we do good in Strasbourg and where we can improve. And we do a lot of good, starting as a peace project in 1949, the Council of Europe has developed into a beacon of hope for millions of Europeans through the European Convention of Human Rights,” Kovachevski said in his remarks.

He said that its norms and standards have contributed to improving lives of our citizens. Today, more than ever, it is important that Europe remains united and Europe will not be united whole free and that the peace without the Balkans fully integrated in the European family.

PM Kovachevski thanked the Icelandic presidency for their efforts in making the summit a success and wished the incoming Latvian presidency the same stamina and commitment.